Start A Butterfly Garden: Plants That Attract Butterflies

Here are just a few ways to draw butterflies to your yard so you can enjoy their beauty and grace, including the key plants that attract butterflies.

“Just living isn’t enough,” said the butterfly. “One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.”

The Complete Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Anderson

Wise words to live by from a butterfly, right? If you are as enamored as I am by these magical creatures and you want to bring these exquisite flying jewels to your garden, there are just a few things you need to know to be successful at attracting butterflies to your yard.

Once you incorporate these into your backyard garden plan, you’ll be well on your way to having a beautiful garden that attracts many different varieties of butterflies.

What do butterflies do to help flowers?

Butterflies are pollinators — which means they help spread pollen from plant to plant which allows them to proliferate.

Adult butterflies need to drink nectar to survive. So they fly from blossoms to blossom (just like bees and other pollinators), using their proboscis to suck the sweet nectar from each bloom.

While they are eating, they grab ahold of the bloom and will get pollen stuck to their feet. When they take off to visit another plant, that pollen goes along with them, helping to pollinate and spread the plant species.

What colors attract butterflies?

Butterflies can see bright colors and are attracted to bright yellow, red, orange, purple, pink and yes, even white flowers. However, butterflies are nearsighted and will be able to, at a distance, only see masses of one color, rather than random scatterings of different colors.

Keep this in mind when you’re planting your butterfly garden and try to plant groupings of each of the colors that attract butterflies for the best success.

Choose Flowers That Are Flat

Unlike hummingbirds or other pollinators, butterflies are only capable of drinking from flat-topped flowers or ones with very short tubes. They cannot reach the nectar at…